Nokia completes Symbian outsourcing deal with Accenture

Nokia has officially signed on the dotted line to outsource its Symbian software development services to Accenture.

The agreement, which has been in the pipeline since April, now means that Accenture will develop and support Symbian until 2016. Poor souls. In other words, it will be responsible for helping Nokia transfer from Symbian to Windows Phone.

However, there’s upheaval on the horizon for thousands of employees with the transfer of around 2,800 staff in China, Finland, India, Britain and the United States expected in October, when the deal closes.

For their troubles they will be retrained to ensure the changes happen smoothly.

Back in April Nokia announced that it was to slash 7,000 jobs as it wanted to cut costs by $1.5 billion by 2013.

At the time, it said 4,000 staff would be pushed off the sinking ship completely, especially in Finland, Denmark and the UK. However, another 3,000 would be spared the short plank and shipped off to the long one at Accenture.

Last week the company tried to justify its actions and its means for outsourcing jobs.

It told TechEye that although it was not proud of the job cuts and the effect it had on people in Finland, it had to be done.

Doug Dawson at Nokia told us: “Nokia is woven into the fabric of Finnish society. I think there’s a lot of pride in Finns and the success of Nokia.

Regarding job losses, “those are always difficult days,” Dawson said.

“I don’t think there’s any way you can describe it any differently. If you talk to your average guy on the street they will say they want Nokia to succeed.”

Those moved to Accenture may want to keep the champers on ice as the new agreement only lasts until 2016, making us wonder what Nokia plans to do with its doomed system later on.